CVEC Refuses to Disclose FY2015 Budget

CVEC Refuses to Disclose FY2015 Budget and Interim Financial Statements to the Public   Dear All,

On March 27, 2014, the Cape & Vineyard Electric Cooperative Board of Directors approved its Budget for FY2015 (see minutes attached).

 It appears that the CVEC Treasurer also provided the CVEC Board with some interim financial information for FY2014 YTD on this date.

Both of these meeting exhibits are public documents under Massachusetts law.

I have asked CVEC to publish its FY2015 Budget, approved a month ago, to the CVEC website.

I have also asked for a copy of the FY2015 Budget -- a one page document -- in the event that CVEC refuses to make it available to the general public. 

I also asked for interim financial statements, since the CVEC minutes indicate that CVEC had spent considerably more money than it had budgeted for FY2014.

After waiting the maximum permissible 10 day period for responding to a public records request, CVEC has responded by refusing to publish the Budget or disclose it to the general public.

CVEC advised me that if I wanted a copy of this single page document, I should send them a check for $6.10 to compensate CVEC for the 15 minutes that they estimate it would take them to copy it and send it to me.  CVEC also ignored my request that they attach this document to an e-mail and simply send it to me.

The President of CVEC has also stated that it is his intention to withhold the CVEC Proposed FY2015 for three months -- until sometime in June of 2014.  

The President gives no reason for refusing to provide public access to CVEC's approved budget for FY2015, but the reason is clear since CVEC intends to provide a copy of this budget to the Cape Light Compact Governing Board at its meeting on May 14, 2014 and to request that CLC approve the transfer of sufficient CLC ratepayer funds to CVEC on that date to keep CVEC afloat for another year.

Clearly, CVEC does not want the public to know the size or particulars of CVEC's request for another cash transfusion of CLC ratepayer funds until after this donation is a fait accompli.

For the record, CVEC continues to record massive operating losses and has already received at least $3.2 million in capital contributions from the Cape Light Compact.  

Please take a moment to send a brief e-mail to the officers of CVEC requesting that CVEC publish a copy of its FY2015 Budget and CVEC's Interim Financial Statements through March 30, 2014 YTD without further delay.

Please also ask CVEC, in the event that CVEC refuses to do so, to provide you with copies of these records.  You won't be obligated to pay for the records, but CVEC will be obligated to respond.

It is my hope that if CVEC receives enough of these requests, CVEC will decide that it is far more efficient for CVEC simply to post  this information to the CVEC website than to reply to all of these requests -- which is exactly what every other public body does in the normal course of practice, rather than refusing to provide such fundamental information.

Please do take the time to send this message.  The more requests that CVEC receives, the greater the likelihood that CVEC will comprehend, no matter how dimly, its obligation to be open, transparent and accountable to the public.

Thanks for you help.

Eric Bibler


Here is a proposed text that you can cut and paste, with relevant e-mail addresses:

Mr. John Checklick
President

Mr. Charles McLaughlin
Vice President

Mr. Mark Zielinski
Treasurer

Cape & Vineyard Electric Cooperative
Barnstable, MA

Re: CVEC FY2015 Budget Approved on March 27, 2015

Re: CVEC Interim Financial Statements through March 30, 2014 for FY2014 YTD

April 25, 2014

Dear Mr. Checklick, Mr. McLaughlin and Mr. Zielinski,

I respectfully request that CVEC post a copy of its FY2015 Budget, which the CVEC Board approved on March 27, 2014, to the CVEC website.

I also respectfully request that CVEC publish a copy of its Interim Financial Statements through March 30, 2014 for FY2014 YTD to the CVEC website.

In the event that CVEC refuses to make these documents available to the general public in this way, I respectfully ask that CVEC provide copies of these public records to me directly in electronic form.

Thank you in advance for you cooperation.

Sincerely,


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john.checklick@gmail.com

charles.mclaughlin@town.barnstable.ma.us

mzielinski@barnstablecounty.org